


What a Gentleman

by fits_in_frames



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-29
Updated: 2005-11-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 23:44:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1568267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fits_in_frames/pseuds/fits_in_frames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He can't help but see him out of the corner of his eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What a Gentleman

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://users.livejournal.com/__untilnextyear/profile)[**__untilnextyear**](http://users.livejournal.com/__untilnextyear/)'s [request](http://www.livejournal.com/community/twoseekers/19641.html).

He walks in with Cho on his arm, feeling stupid and fake and slightly nauseous. Harry is only a few paces behind him, with that lovely Indian girl whose name he never asked for. The champions take their positions on the floor, and he twirls her around and around, but when she looks up at him and smiles, he can only think of the conversation they had just a few days ago.

_"Harry asked me to the Ball today, Ced."_

_"What did you tell him?" An involuntary lump in his throat._

_"I said I was going with you." A sugar-sweet smile._

_"Oh, of course."_

He can't help but see him out of the corner of his eye. Harry is a terrible dancer--lanky, awkward, inexperienced--and seems an even worse date by the way his eyes keep wandering. They exchange glances once, twice, thrice. He holds his breath and kisses her, lightly, on the lips. Harry glares at them jealously for a fleeting moment, then turns his attention back to the Indian girl. Cho tugs on his arm and pulls him into a seat. "I'm going to get us a drink, all right?" He nods.

_"No one can know, Harry. No one."_

_"But how--"_

_"We'll have to take girls. Could you imagine the look on Dumbledore's face if we showed up together?" A forced laugh._

_"But--" A pleading tone. A desperate look._

_"Just pick one, Harry. It won't mean anything."_

_"Well, all right."_

_Harry stood on his tiptoes, avoiding the creaky board in the floor of the broom closet, and kissed him, tongue and all, then put on his cloak and went invisible._

He drinks, slowly. Harry has sat down at a table behind them, with one of those Weasley brothers he's so fond of. He wants to go over and ask him to dance, but Cho is sitting on his lap and stroking his hair, so he only smiles up at her. "Come on," she says, finally, "I love this song."

 _"Of all the girls in the entire school, you_ had _to pick the one I already asked?"_

_"She's pretty. I like her." An awkward glance downward at his shoes._

_"I don't care if she's pretty, and I don't care if you--wait." An uncomfortable silence._

_"I mean--if I were to, you know--with a girl--"_

_"All right, all right. Look, I'm sorry. You'll have to find someone else."_

_"Bloody easy for you to say."_

_"Harry, I--"_

_"Can we still go together?" A sense of urgency._

_"Of course."_

_"I'll just have to find another pretty girl, then."_

He wants Harry to come out on the dance floor, so he could at least have some excuse to be near him. But Cho grabs his hand and suddenly they're outside, in the cold, and he automatically takes off his cloak to keep her warm. "What a gentleman," she says. He hears voices: one that sounds like Hagrid, one that sounds like Snape and one that sounds like-- "Is that Harry and one of the Weasleys?" she says, poking her head around the top of the bushes. He looks also, shrugs, and Harry's voice fades. It is then that she kisses him, suddenly, wetly, and all he can think of is how strange her breasts feel pressed up against him like this.

"I'm freezing," he lies when she pulls away. "I think we should go inside."

She frowns at him, sighs and remarks that it's nearly midnight and she should go to bed anyway. When they reenter the Great Hall, Harry and the Weasley are nowhere to be found. He walks her to Ravenclaw Tower, tucks his cloak into the crook of his arm, and kisses her good night on the cheek. She takes forever to thank him for a wonderful night and finally slips inside the already-open portrait hole. He smiles after her, but as soon as she's gone, his face slackens. He hurries to Gryffindor Tower, but the Fat Lady informs him that the Potter boy is already inside and she doesn't think he's in any mood to come out again. He resigns himself to his own dormitory, kicking his bed before he sits down heavily, holding his head in his hands.

_"I won't let her keep me away from you for too long."_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise. I'll meet you outside Gryffindor Tower at midnight."_

_"Midnight?"_

_"I'll need to walk her home."_

_Harry kissed him, for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day, and grinned. "What a gentleman."_

In his dream that night, he is dancing with Harry--lanky, awkward, inexperienced Harry--on the Quidditch field, in their Quidditch uniforms, in the snow, and Cho keeps picking him up by the scruff of his neck as if he were a giant Snitch she needed to catch.

*

_"You seemed unhappy last night."_

_"I--had a lot on my mind. You know."_

_"It was almost like you wanted to go to the Ball with that girl Harry was with."_

_"No, no, it's not that. Forget it. It's over."_

_"I'd've been perfectly happy to dance with Harry if you'd've told me."_

_"Cho, I said_ forget it _."_

*

He's just left Cho at the Transfiguration classroom when they bump into each other in the hall on the first day of classes after Christmas. One of his books falls to the ground and in the scramble to pick it up, their hands touch. Harry pulls away as fast as he can, not looking him in the eye, handing him the book. They stand up, and he whispers, "What a gentleman," into Harry's ear as he brushes past him. Glancing back from the doorway of the Charms classroom, he sees Harry, wide-eyed, frozen. _Midnight_ , he mouths. _Trophy room._ Harry blinks to show he understands, and, after a moment, smiles. They both just barely make it to class on time.


End file.
